The Last Stand
by Yet-One-More-Idiot
Summary: The girls plan to stop the supervillains of Townsville once and for all. But when it goes wrong, is anything as it seems? :D
1. Enemies at the Gate

Disclaimer: The Powerpuff Girls and all affiliated characters are the property of Craig McCracken, Cartoon Network and anyone else who works for/with them. I own nothing except this story that you are reading now. 

**Also: There's a piece of music I think will go well with this story. You mayn't see why yet, but I suggest "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden. **

**The Last Stand**

By Gregory Cooper

Chapter 1: Enemies at the Gate

* * *

"Hello girls, how has your day been?" asked Professor Utonium, the Powerpuff Girls father, as they flew into the house one late afternoon. 

"Painful..." said Blossom, as she flew by and straight up to her room. Blossom was the smartest of the three Powerpuff Girls, as well as being their leader and unofficial "mum". At the age of 6, she and her sisters looked deceptively small and naïve, a fact they had often used to their advantage in the fight against crime and the forces of evil, as well as against the monsters from nearby Monster Island. 

All three sisters currently stood at a little over three and a half feet tall, and they all wore dresses that that were the same colour as the oversized eyes that were disproportionately large in relation to the rest of their heads. At the moment, they were all also covered in various bruises and cuts, most of which had already stopped bleeding. 

"...long..." added her "younger" sister, Buttercup, who was well known as being the toughest of the three girls, and who never let anyone forget it either, if at all possible. What had once been a green dress that she had worn to school that very morning was now a rather badly cut lime green T-shirt and skirt. There was also a quite big and very nasty looking slice right across the middle of her stomach, which still seemed to be slowly oozing blood. 

"and tiring," finished Bubbles, the "youngest" of the triplets, so thought of only because of her tendency, much more than either Blossom or Buttercup, to act her real age. That doesn't mean though, that she wasn't as smart or as tough as them, for she most certainly was. Where Blossom exuded intelligence and maturity beyond her years (most of the time, at least), and Buttercup was always acting tough, Bubbles was the group's innocence. 

"We're going to lie down for a while, Dad," the three girls said as one, as they floated slowly up the stairs and vanished into their room. 

The Professor, their "dad", was more accurately their creator. One day, over a year previously, he had been trying to make the perfect little girl by mixing sugar, spice, and everything nice together. But his irascible lab "assistant" at the time, the Professor's own pet chimp Jojo, had knocked into him at the wrong moment, causing the Professor to break a flask of Chemical X over the concoction. The resultant explosion had created the "Powerpuff Girls", his three ultra-superpowered daughters, and the protectors of the city of Townsville. 

Unfortunately however, it had also greatly increased Jojo's brain capacity and overall intelligence, making him a certifiable genius - well, certifiable at least. Jojo had then given himself a new name - Mojo Jojo, and had since been repeatedly attempting to take over the world and destroy the Powerpuff Girls, for humanity had accepted them, but not him. 

"Oh dear...." The Professor had seen their latest battle against their arch-nemesis Mojo Jojo on the TV, and it had not been easy. Indeed, it seemed that every time they fought him, his plans and gadgets were growing stronger and more effective against their girls. If this trend continued...he didn't particularly want to think what it might lead to, but knew that he had to face the possibility. 

Or did he...? 

* * *

The girls heard their father outside their bedroom door, but felt too tired to get up for the moment. He knocked again. 

"Girls! Can I come in? There's something I want to talk to you about." 

"Kmm id, deb", mumbled Blossom into her pillow. If she wasn't so tired at the moment, she'd most likely be crying from exhaustion. The Professor came in and sat down on an unoccupied corner of the bed. 

"Girls, I've noticed that the number of attacks on Townsville have been increasing lately. Are you three okay?" 

"We're fine," said Buttercup, tiredly. 

Blossom sat up and wiped her eyes. "But if this keeps up much longer, then we probably won't be." Both her sisters gave her a look. "I'd noticed the increase in attacks too." 

"And you didn't tell us?" 

"I didn't want to alarm anyone unnecessarily. I thought it was just short term, but it doesn't look that way now, does it Professor?" 

"Sadly no, Blossom. I would suggest reinforcements, but hopefully this'll all die down at some point...." Of course, he didn't dare mention the possibility that it might not. 

"So what choices do we have?" asked Bubbles, who was nervous at the thought of a torrent of battles that might prove to be un-winnable. 

"Well, we could try and ride the storm out together...", offered Blossom, hopefully. Buttercup, who'd been deep in thought during the last portion of this conversation, sprang back to life fast enough to almost startle Bubbles into crying. 

"...or we could take the war to them!" 

There was a unanimous "What?" from all present, accompanied by a confused look from Bubbles and an apprehensive one from Blossom. 

"Well, instead of sitting about on our butts for one of those scabby villains to come up with a way of beating us, we could go on the offensive. 

"You mean a pre-emptive strike?" 

"Yeah. Or, if that fails, we could strike them first." Blossom slapped herself in the face. 

"That's what pre-emptive means, honey." 

"Whatever, dad." 

"But Buttercup", said Blossom, "we're superheroes. We fight crime and the forces of evil." 

"My point exactly." 

"So if they haven't done anything wrong, we can't attack them." 

"But they're constantly doin' stuff wrong! And when we throw 'em in jail, they get out again in a matter of days!" 

"Maybe they have good lawyers?" Bubbles asked hopefully. Both her sisters, and the Professor too, raised their eyebrows at her. "What'd I say?" 

"Anyway, I say that we get them, before they get us. What d'you say?" 

"I'm sorry Buttercup, but we can't do it. It'd be ethically wrong for us to attack bad guys for no good reason." 

"But you just called them 'bad guys'! So if they're so bad, why should ethics apply?!" 

"Because...I...erm, well...just because they should!" 

"And I'm with Blossom on this one, Buttercup." 

"You're always with Blossom, Bubbles." 

"Well, that's 'cos she's always right." 

"Is not!" 

"Girls, please!" the Professor interjected. " Blossom and Bubbles are right, Buttercup. End of discussion." Suddenly, his face brightened. "Now, time for dinner!" 

* * *

That night, after the girls had been put to bed, and Buttercup had made her usual complaints about it being far to early to go to sleep (and then fallen asleep a scant 20 seconds later), the Professor was lying in his own bed in the next room, thinking back on their earlier conversation. 

_If only there was some way to stop all the attacks without excessive violence_ he thought to himself. _There's no way that any of this towns supervillains would ever agree to renounce evil, and it would be wrong to kill them, even though they ARE evil and destructive. Imprisonment doesn't seem to work either...unless...of course! It's the wrong sort of prison! _

He shut off his bedside lamp and tried to get to sleep, but his new idea kept him awake another couple of hours...

* * *

The following morning, the girls were up and eating breakfast even before the Professor came to wake them. 

"Huh. I wish I could be an inventor. Then I could get to sleep in late too," Buttercup said through a mouthful of burnt toast. 

"Well you can't be, 'cos you're still at school," Blossom said. "And you do realise that toast has about the same nutritional content as a lump of charcoal?" 

At that moment, Bubbles flew past with her backpack on, having already had her breakfast. "That's 'cos it IS charcoal, Blossom." Blossom and Buttercup soon finished their breakfasts, and as they and Bubbles were about to fly off to school, the form of a very sleepy looking Professor emerged at the top of the staircase. 

"Before you go, you three", they turned to look up at him, "I managed to come up with a plan that may stop the supervillains outright late last night." 

"Really?" asked Blossom, intrigued. "How?"

"Well, wait a few minutes while I get dressed, and then I'll explain it to you." 

"But what about school?" asked Bubbles, upset that they'd miss colouring hour. 

"Ah, who gives a..." 

"Buttercup!" 

"...flying fig about school?" finished Buttercup, totally ignoring Blossom's little outburst. "There. Happy? I didn't swear." 

"Good." 

"Don't worry. I'll wring Miss Keane and tell her that you'll all be in later this morning. I'm sure she'll understand that it's important." 

* * *

Twenty minutes later, all four had assembled down in the Professor basement laboratory, with Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup sitting, facing a giant whiteboard which the Professor was now pacing in front of. 

"...So you see, this plan should work. Any questions?" 

"Yeah, I do," said Blossom. The Professor nodded for her to continue. "What if it doesn't?" 

"Good question, Blossom. If it doesn't, then we'll have some seriously annoyed villains on our hands. Then again, that couldn't make the situation much worse than it is already anyway, so...." Buttercup threw her hand up at this point. "Yes Buttercup?" 

"When can we put it into action?"

"Well, most of the villains tend to be quite lazy, so they'll still be asleep. I have all the necessary equipment already...I should be able to do it all myself before you three get home from school." 

At this news, big smiles appeared on all three girls' faces. "Great!" 

* * *

The girls had a good day at school after that really good piece of news. They arrived at Pokey Oaks Kindergarten in time to find out that colouring hour had been postponed until just before lunchtime, so Bubbles' worrying had all been for nothing. Instead, they had Maths first, followed by some work on their handwriting - REALLY fun (not). 

At lunchtime, Blossom couldn't wait any longer - she had to tell someone the great news, or else she'd simply burst. So she sought out her sisters. 

"Hey Buttercup!" Blossom shouted, popping up beside her sister in the middle of a game of marbles. 

"Argh! Now look - you made me miss!" Buttercup said, glaring at her pink-eyed sister. 

"Oh, pipe down - you stole those marbles from me anyway." 

"That's not the point. I was gonna win Mitch's and then give you yours back." Now Blossom shot a dirty look at Buttercup in return. "Anyway, moving swiftly on...what's the big deal?" 

"I wanna tell Robyn about the plan, I'm just too excited!" 

"Alright, alright. Calm down." Blossom stopped bouncing on the spot. "Last I saw, she was with Bubbles, drawing over the far side of the playground." So they went to join their blue-eyed sister and best friend. 

"Hiya Robyn. Have you heard?" 

"Heard what?" 

"By the end of today, all the city's biggest supervillains will be stopped. Permanently." 

"You mean it?!" 

"Yep. We've got a..."

"Actually, it was dad's plan." 

"Cool! So what is this plan then?" 

"Well..." began Blossom, when she heard Miss Keane answering the hotline phone. She was suddenly all business again. "We can't talk now. Duty calls." 

"Oh bother." 

"Girls!" Miss Keane shouted. "It seems the Beat-Alls have been re-formed! They're on Main Street at the moment!" 

"Thanks Miss Keane!" And the girls flew off, to once again save the day. 

* * *

When Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup arrived at Main Street, the scene was absolute...

...Chaos. 

The road had been torn up for at least a mile in each direction by an army of tanks, dotted here and there by the footprints from Mojo Jojo's Robo Jojo. Heavy objects had also smashed into several buildings, and some vehicles could be seen lodged in odd positions, such as upside-down and wedged into a giant toilet. As they came round the corner of a nearby building, they saw the cause of this destruction. 

The Beat-Alls. 

When Mojo Jojo, the demon known to Townsville only as Him, Princess Morbucks and the Gangrene Gang had formly amalgamated, they had beaten the girls into a bloody pulp and forced them to run from their beloved city. To this day, this remained the only time that the Powerpuff Girls had even been beaten. 

Blossom didn't hesitate in giving the order to attack. "Girls, attack plan alph..." the sound of a chain-gun firing was heard very close by. 

Blossom never finished her sentence, as her chest was suddenly riddled with bullets. She put her hand to her chest in a vain attempt to quell the flow of blood, as both her sisters looked on in utter amazement at the sight that their sister and leader had been so savagely attacked. She tried to take one last breath, but the shots had perforated both her lungs, making her death rapid and totally silent. 

She was dead before she even hit the ground. 

"Blossom?" Bubbles said, in a small, squeaky voice. Buttercup flew down and managed to pry one of the bullets from her now dead sister. 

"It's duranium." 

"Blossom?" Bubbles asked, again. Just then, the chain-gun could be heard firing again, from even closer. Buttercup flew up, grabbed Bubbles by the hem of her dress, and dragged her back round the corner of the building and out of site of the attacking bad guys. 

"Wha...?" 

"Bubbles, keep it together." 

"Blossom is...dead?"

"Yes Bubbles. You know what this means, don't you?" She asked, holding up the duranium-covered bullet. 

"No?" 

"This means war." 

* * *

To be continued...

OK, what did you think? I know Buttercup's reaction sounds a bit cold, but you have to remember they're in the middle of a veritable war-zone, so she hasn't got time to feel sad, or she - and Bubbles - could end up dead too. And this is also the one who's always ready for a rumble. Well, looks like she's got one now.... ****Evil Grin****

**Also, please don't get too annoyed with this. I promise, there IS a happy ending, I repeat there IS a happy ending. You'll just have to wait and see how, though. :-D **


	2. War

First, I apologise to all those who've been waiting for the rest of this story to appear. It's here now, but that's not important. I 'm sorry for keeping anyone waiting. :-)

OK, a small retraction is necessary at this point; I was originally going to make this second chapter into a songfic, hence the musical suggestion at the top of chapter 1. Then, I decided against that idea, 'cos I feel that adding songs in, in that way, makes a story more confusing (especially for the author). And you have to match up the story to the lyrics, which would've made this a LOT harder still. So I'm dropping that idea (probably on its' head. :-P). 

**The Last Stand**

By Gregory Cooper

Chapter 2: War

* * *

"Hey Mojo!" yelled Ace, the green-skinned leader of the Gangrene Gang, over the roar of all the machinery. 

"Do not address me in that way," replied the chimp, "for my name is not merely Mojo. For, if my title really were simply Mojo, then my full nomenclature would not be Mooooojo Jojo, which it actually is. Ergo..."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Anyhoo, how come you invited us," he indicated his four rather odd looking comrades, "to join the Beat-Alls instead of getting Fuzzy back?" 

"It is quite simple, and I will elucidate it thusly. You five are far smarter than Fuzzy, for he is dumber than all of you (put together). And there are five of you instead of just one, meaning more defence against attacks from those most accursed of brats, the Powerpuff Girls." 

"Ah. Right." 

"Plus Fuzzy doesn't know how to load and operate a chain gun. Now hop to it." 

* * *

Several blocks away, Bubbles and Buttercup were lurking under the rubble of what once had most probably been an electronics hardware store. 

"I still can't believe it...Blossom's really gone," whispered Bubbles in a voice hoarse from crying. 

"Snap out it, B-Bubble-head, or you'll...have me crying too," said Buttercup, sniffling a little. 

"You? Crying?" 

"Yeah, me crying." Buttercup said indignantly. "What, you think I ain't got feelings?" 

"But...the way you acted back there..."

"Look sis, this just isn't the time for bursting into tears, OK? We start blubbing, and we'll end up being caught or killed too, most likely." 

"So what ARE we gonna do then?"

"Well," said Buttercup, floating off the ground a little way in a menacing stance, "first we're gonna find the scum-suckers who did this to Townsville, and then we're gonna 'em a taste of what it is to be a Powerpuff!" she said, and smacked her fist into the other open palm. 

"Yeah! We'll beat 'em, in memory of Blossom!" cheered Bubbles, growing more determined to get revenge by the minute. 

"That's the spirit..." said Buttercup, as she followed her blue-eyed sister in the city sky once more. 

* * *

It took longer than usual for the sisters to get home, as they had to avoid all sounds of gunfire, just in case. Also, just in case, they had decided right from the start to keep silent unless absolutely necessary, so as not to alert any potential enemies to their location. 

Finally, however, as they arrived in their own neighbourhood, they found evidence that the Beat-Alls had already been there. Almost every building in the Pokey Oaks suburb had been crushed, flattened into a pancake, and then indented with caterpillar tracks from the Beat-Alls very own war machine. As the two girls flew over the area in a thorough sweep, searching for possible survivors, they found none. What they did witness lots of though, was the full horror of the situation; there were a few corpses in the streets, so recently killed that they were still warm. Some were riddled with bullets, while others had been caught in massive explosions of some kind. Still others had simply been crushed by the sheer weight of the war machine passing over them, and now merely resembled massive, half-done, 6-foot pizzas, only covered in the tomato sauce. 

This, nonetheless, was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Upon closer inspection with their X-ray vision, both sister discovered even worse atrocities that had been visited on their fellow citizens. Many had been crushed to death, not by the war machine per se, but by the great mass of the rubblethat had once been the buildings they had occupied. Most had simply been going calmy about their daily business when the end came for them, and so their broken and twisted bodies were found, still seemingly trying to continue watching the television, cooking, cleaning, ironing,...the list was almost endless. 

Eventually, they had had enough, and became so nauseated from the sight of the carnage that they had to deactivate their X-ray vision and fly up into the clouds, where they couldn't see the scene below. 

"Didya find the Professor?" asked Bubbles, in a weak voice. 

"Nope. I bet they've taken him," replied Buttercup, thinking aloud. 

"Why would they do that?" 

"In the hope that we wouldn't attack if they have a hostage." 

"So what can we do then?" 

"We'll try to rescue anyone they may be holding, before facing off against them." 

"B-but they have bullets that can hurt us," pointed out Bubbles, at which Buttercup's face fell slightly. "How're we gonna get close enough to rescue anyone or face them?" 

"Hmm...you've got a point, Bubbs." Buttercup ruffled her sisters hair playfully as she considered some possible solutions. 

"Eureka! I have it!" Buttercup suddenly shouted out. 

"You do?" 

"Yes, I do." 

"Is it contagious?" Bubbles said, worriedly. 

"What?" Buttercup was momentarily thrown off track by this comment. "Oh...No. I know how we can get close enough. We need a trump card." 

"What's a trump card when it's at home?" 

"Umm...something that'll give us an advantage, and keep them from shooting at us too much." 

"Oh!" Bubbles caught on to the idea. "Like in films, when the villain goes round wearing 'splosives?" 

An energy-saving light bulb went on very slowly over Buttercup's head. "Yes, of course! Bubbles, you're a genius!" Bubbles just looked mildly confused however. "But where are we gonna find explosives in Townsville though?" Bubbles realised that Buttercup was about to do something that could be very dangerous. Her jaw dropped. 

"You're not serious, are you? You could blow yourself up!" she squeaked, almost in the range of bat sonar. 

"Not me, we." Bubbles was stunned speechless. "And yes, I'm deadly serious. It may be the only way we can stop the Beat-Alls from taking over everything!" 

"OK..." said Bubbles, thinking deeply on the matter of a possible suicide mission against their enemies, "...what about the missile silo on the other side of Citysville? We could take a couple of the warheads from the Trident missiles." 

"Nukes?!?" It was Buttercup's turn to be stunned senseless this time. "Are you out of you mind? What happened to 'we might kill ourselves'"? She asked, doing a decent imitation of Bubbles' high-pitched voice. 

"Well," said Bubbles, "if we're gonna carry 'splosives, we may as well make sure they're powerful enough to stop the Beat-Alls and their weapons." Buttercup thought about this. "And if they have enough duranium to use on their bullets, they probably have duranium armour, too. And only a nuke'll get through that." 

"Good thinking Bubbles," Buttercup said. "Seems to be your day for bright ideas, doesn't it?" 

"Well, let's get going then," Bubbles replied, with a grin. "We've got baddies to stop." 

* * *

"Well," said Princess, staring pointedly at Mojo, "you had me spend $20 million in R&D on building this....machine, before Him went and killed them all. So what does it do?" 

"At the moment," replied Mojo Jojo, deep in thought, "very little. It scans the mind of its' target to uncover what they desire most strongly." "That's ALL?!" 

"What exactly were you expecting for $20 million, considering the amount of duranium armour on this device?" Mojo said, a bit peeved at Princess Morebucks' reaction. "And anyhow, it isn't finished yet." 

"Really?" This piqued her curiousity. "How so?"

Mojo simply ignored her and turned towards the red, cross-dressing demon who was currently spitting acid at a few people still struggling to hold on to life. "HIM!!"

"Yeees?" answered Him, in his feminine voice. "You called?" Then, he noticed the device for the first time. "Ah, is that it? Do you wish for meeee to imbue it with magic now?" 

"Yes please." 

At that moment, Ace finally decided to pipe up. "So what'll this thing do when it's all magicfied?" 

"It will not only be able to read its' targets desires, but also project an image of said desire directly into the victim's mind, distracting them from whatever task they are undertaking at that time. And if they are distracted, then they will not be carrying out whatever task they are carrying out properly, efficiently and thoroughly, and hence when they are fully distracted, they will be easy prey, and hence this will have facilitated in their demise..."

"Yeah yeah. Got any targets in mind, monkey-mouth?" 

"As a matter of fact Princess, I do so have an idea of potential targets whom we might use this machine on to great effect, and thus be able to finally do what we have all longed for for so long - to kill them....

"You mean the Powerpuff Girls?" interjected Ace. 

A massive, manic grin appeared on Mojo Jojo's small, green, slightly deformed visage. A similar, altogether more evil-looking one appeared on Him's face. For the very first time ever, Mojo uttered but a single word. 

"Exactly." 

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, Buttercup and Bubbles, the two remaining Powerpuffs, were just moments away from facing their arch-nemeses, the Beat-Alls, once again. 

"Remind me again why we didn't just use the Professor's equipment to create a Powerpuff army that could wipe the floor with those doo-doo heads?" 

"Because, Bubbles, there's no guarantee that the formula would stay stable for long, or at all. Remember Bunny?"

"Yeah, but that was 'cos we subs...subis...substiis...changed the recipe." 

"Even if we could get it right in time, Bubs, think about it. After this battle, an army wouldn't be needed any longer. What'd happen to them all then?"

Bubbles thought about this for a few moments, as they drew ever closer to their target. "Oh." 

Buttercup was glad Bubbles finally understood her argument. "That's my point. Otherwise though, it's a brilliant plan." "Really?" 

"Yeah. Plus I think the Professor kept...keeps all his Chemical X in a lead-lined, duranium safe, and we don't know the combination to open it." 

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." By now, they had arrived at their destination. 

"POWERPUFFS, PREPARE TO MEET THY DOOM!" bellowed Him, now using his masculine voice, and in his incredibly muscular physical form. 

"Oh please Him, that's lame." 

"Yeah, we've seen it all before," added Buttercup. 

"Really? How about we just shoot you, then?" asked Him, reverting to his feminine voice in mid-sentence. 

"Yes. I'm sure you already know the effectiveness with which these duranium-coated bullets can despatch you, as you seem to be missing the third of your number, your precious leader." 

"Can it, Mojackass." 

"Be careful what you say, Powerpuff Buttercup, for we can kill you two anytime we wish now." 

"Not really," squeaked Bubbles. 

"What do you mean?" asked Princess. 

"What she means is we're both rigged with explosives. You shoot us, we start the countdown." 

"Oh please," muttered Princess. 

"A foolish threat," added Mojo, "as we would simply be protected by this war machine's duranium armour, which is impregnable, indestructible, and impervious..." 

"To everything except for a thermonuclear detonation," finished Him. "So you see, this is futile." 

"So you mean what I'm wearing on my back ISN'T a nuke then?" asked Buttercup. The Beat-Alls faces collectively went slack. "And Bubbles is wearing one too." 

"You wouldn't dare." 

"Oh yeah. Think about it. You've already killed the civilian population for miles around, and if you kill us, that leaves only you lot in Townsville. We detonate these just as we die, and that takes all of you out as well. Everyone," she stated, staring at Him. 

"Activate the device!" screamed Princess, who then realised she was the only one who knew how to operate it. So she switched it on and aimed it straight at Bubbles, to begin with. 

Immediately, Bubbles saw the Professor and Blossom sitting up in the road directly beneath her, quite clearly both alive. She flew down towards them as fast as possible. "Blossom! Daddy! I'm com..." was all she could say, before she was struck with a lethal blast from an AntiX cannon. 

The Antidote X flowed through her body as fast as lightning, disabling all her superpowers. Now without the ability to control her descent, she merely dropped the 100 feet or so to the ground, as Buttercup looked away and the Beat-Alls leered at the sight of yet another human pizza being made. 

After it was all over, Mojo smiled smugly up at the last remaining puff, and leeringly said, "well, it looks like your time is up, Powerpuff Buttercup." Then he signalled to Princess to aim the device at Buttercup next. 

At once, she saw before her, tied to the roof of the Beat-Alls war machine, her best friend and next door neighbour, Robyn Snyder. Alive and well, for the moment at least. 

"Buttercup, help me!" screamed Robyn, her voice cracking from terror. Her hair was plastered to her forehead from nervous sweat, and she was shaking in her bonds. A look of total fright was evident in her dark brown eyes. 

"Don't worry, Robyn, I'll save you!" Buttercup yelled back, and dove down to untie her friend form her precarious position on the slightly angled roof of the machine. 

A moment later, it became clear to Buttercup that Robyn had, in fact, been a hallucination induced by Princess' device, and that where she had thought her friend was was actually a giant duranium spike sticking out of the top of the tank. A giant spike that she was now well and truly impaled upon. 

She gasped for air, but there wasn't much chance of that any more. As she groped on her back for the detonation switch to her nuclear warhead, Him's voice rang one last time in her ears, echoing in a manner even more eerie than usually. 

"It's no use, little girl. I already de...the warheads using my magic." 

The last thing she saw before she blacked out forever was all the members of the Beat-Alls laughing at her in an extremely demonic manner......

* * *

"So, how are thing's going for them, Dad?" asked the girl who floated next to him, wearing a black dress with a dark green centre stiped, her dark green eyes not quite covered by her short, brown hair, done in short ponytail. 

"Yes daddy, what's happening in there?" asked her auburn haired sister, who wore a similar black dress, except with a red central stripe, and her hair in a long braid down to the middle of her back. Her light pink eyes flashed with excitement. 

"Now girls, you know well enough to wait until your sister get's...oh, she's here," he's finished his statement as a third girl, with bright blue eyes and her blonde hair in twin ponytails flew in through the open window, her dress, matching her sisters' but with a blue stripe, floating behind her in the wind. She touched down gracefully in front of her family. 

"Sapphire," said the man, "what took you so long?" Her sister glared at her too, not out of anger, but impatience. 

"Sorry daddy," the 8 year old girl said, dropping her backpack in the corner of the room. "I had to stay behind to finish off my math homework." 

"Well, you're here now. So let's go and look in on the 'inmates'," the man said. He ushered his three daughters through a door which had painted on it the words "Doctor Iradium: Head of Physics Dept, Citysville University." 

"What inmates, daddy?" asked the curious brunette girl. 

"Well Jade, rather than punishing the most dangerous criminals with imprisonment that they could easily escape from, they're locked away in our Virtual Prison wing of the university. Look." They had arrived at a door that said, "No admittance except to authorised personnel." The doctor inserted a key card and punched in some long code number, and the door opened. 

"But how?" asked Jade's pink sister. 

"They're put into a virtual reality scenario so life-like, they don't even realise it isn't real. So they have no need to escape. You understand that, Ruby?" 

"Yes daddy." 

By now, they were in the virtual prison control centre, where a console with a giant screen atop it was surrounded by 8 VR interfaces, each one occupied. They were filled by Him, Mojo Jojo, Princess, and the members of the GGG. 

"We keep them fed and cleaned, and they will live out the rest of their natural lives in this prison, not even knowing it. Now, how are your virtual counterparts handling them...?" Doctor Iradium checked some data on a recent printout. "Oh dear..."

"What is it, daddy?" asked Sapphire. 

"It seems that your counterparts, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup have been murdered. 

"WHAT?!" Ruby, Sapphire and Jade could hardly believe their ears. 

"Apparently, my counterpart had concocted a similar containment scheme for the criminals IN the simulation, but the virtual Townsville was wiped out before it could be implemented." 

"Well," said Jade, "on the upside, they can feel happy in their world..."

"And we can be happy in the real world," said Ruby. And so Doctor Iradium went about checking all the systems, as was his daily routine, before leading his girls home, to a lovely night spent with family. 

* * *

**The End. **

There will be a sequel to this fic in due course, folks. It will be a crossover fic (my first ever attempt at a crossover), entitled "Monster see, Monster D'Oh!". I have no idea when the first chapter will be posted up though. 


End file.
